Local proof also is not wanting. In the fall, when the freshets are over and the waters of the Columbia are clear, one going out in a small boat just above the cascades and looking down into the transparent depths can see submerged forest trees beneath him, still standing upright as they stood before the bridge fell in and the river was raised above them. It is a strange, weird sight, this forest beneath the river; the waters wash over the broken tree-tops, fish swim among the leafless branches: it is desolate, spectre-like, beyond all words. Scientific men who have examined the field with a view to determining the credibility of the legend about the bridge are convinced that it is essentially true. Believed in by many x tribes, attested by the appearance of the locality, and confirmed by geological investigation, it is surely entitled to be received as a historic fact.
The shipwreck of an Oriental vessel on the Oregon coast, which furnishes one of the most romantic elements in our story, is an altogether probable historic incident, as explained more fully in a foot-note on [page 75.]
The spelling of Indian names, in which authorities differ so widely, has been made as accurate as possible; and, as in the name “Wallulah,” the oldest and most Indian-like form has been chosen. An exception has been made in the case of the modernized and corrupted “Willamette,” which is used instead of the original Indian name, “Wallamet.” But the meaningless “Willamette” has unfortunately passed into such general use that one is almost compelled to accept it. Another verbal irregularity should be noticed: Wauna, the name given by all the Indians in the story to the Columbia, was only the Klickitat name for it. The Indians had no general name for the Columbia, but each tribe had a special name, if any, for it. Some had no name for it at all. It was simply “the big water,” “the river,” “the big salmon water.” What Wauna, the Klickitat name, or Wemath, the Wasco name, signifies, the author has been unable to learn, even from the Indians who gave him the names. They do not know; they say their fathers knew, but it is forgotten now.
A rich and splendid treasure of legend and lore has passed away with the old pioneers and the Indians of the earlier generation. All that may be found interesting in this or any other book on the Indians, compared to what has been lost, is like “a torn leaf from some old romance.”
F. H. B.
Oakland, California,
September, 1890.
CONTENTS.
 | ||
| THE APOSTLE TO THE INDIANS. | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | The New England Meeting | [13] |
| II. | The Minister’s Home | [21] |
| III. | A Darkened Fireside | [31] |
| IV. | The Council of Ordination | [39] |
| V. | Into Trackless Wilds | [47] |
 | ||
| THE OPENING OF THE DRAMA. | ||
| I. | Shall the Great Council be Held? | [53] |
| II. | The War-chief and the Seer | [69] |
| III. | Wallulah | [74] |
| IV. | Sending out the Runners | [87] |
 | ||
| THE GATHERING OF THE TRIBES. | ||
| I. | The Broken Peace-Pipe | [91] |
| II. | On the Way to the Council | [103] |
| III. | The Great Camp on the Island | [120] |
| IV. | An Indian Trial | [131] |
| V. | Sentenced to the Wolf-death | [142] |
 xii | ||
| THE LOVE TALE. | ||
| I. | The Indian Town | [151] |
| II. | The White Woman in the Wood | [159] |
| III. | Cecil and the War-chief | [169] |
| IV. | Archery and Gambling | [176] |
| V. | A Dead Queen’s Jewels | [181] |
| VI. | The Twilight Tale | [191] |
| VII. | Orator Against Orator | [200] |
| VIII. | In the Dark | [210] |
| IX. | Questioning the Dead | [217] |
 | ||
| THE SHADOW OF THE END. | ||
| I. | The Hand of the Great Spirit | [227] |
| II. | The Marriage and the Breaking Up | [241] |
| III. | At The Cascades | [248] |
| IV. | Multnomah’s Death-canoe | [260] |
| V. | As Was Writ in the Book of Fate | [268] |